PowerNext

Uninterrupted power and precision cooling protects and cools servers and other data centre equipment, reports Dominic K.

The phenomenal growth in IT infrastructure, data centres and enterprises across verticals has resulted in power requirements surging. Today, vendors have power solutions specifically designed to meet the needs of an Internet data centre with several enhanced features.

Current UPS units should be capable of supplying non-linear type loads without de-rating or degradation in total harmonic distortion (THD). This would require the computation of critical electrical loads before selecting the UPS capacity, and considering the power requirements of each piece of equipment to be protected.

A good UPS should allow for at least 25 to 30 percent expansion. In addition, the service capabilities of the UPS manufacturer also matter greatly in case of mission-critical applications. Some innovative features that have been introduced in UPS over the past year are load bus synchronisation (multi-level redundancy), remote monitoring software (Web-based monitoring) and DSP-based UPS systems.

The current trend

All the sophistication in the load has brought in more non-linearity into electrical power distribution. This has led to not only higher harmonics and a low power factor impact on the mains, but also huge power and revenue losses. The next generation UPS system takes care of all the stated parameters and ensures power conditioning and the desired uptime.

The UPS is no longer considered a mere back-up product but is now treated as a power conditioning tool that protects the office automation and data centre equipment from power fluctuations and restricts irregular voltage surges which may prove to be harmful and may result in lost revenue.

With organisations investing more in IT, and the growing need to be up and running 24x7, power conditioning is back in focus. Of course, the worsening power situation coupled with the rising demand for power from corporates has compounded the problem. The trend among next-generation offices has now shifted to deploying and maintaining a single integrated solution and is not restricted to deployment of independent components.

"The trend now is towards rack-level cooling and away from room-based cooling. The needs vary by equipment housed in each rack and the application running on that equipment" - Subodh Tagare Marketing Manager APC India

Subodh Tagare, Marketing Manager, APC India, feels that the challenge today is to provide a solution for the entire environment which supports IT. This goes beyond power to address other issues like precision air-conditioning, management of the entire power/thermal environment, as well as deployment of integrated infrastructure—and not just deployment of independent components.

“The trend now is towards rack-level cooling and away from room-based cooling. The needs vary by equipment housed in each rack and the application running on that equipment” observes Tagare.

Power evolution

Remote monitoring is a capability that’s increasingly found in power protection systems. This contributes to efficient office work-flow and also reduces administrative hassles since they are no more required to monitor multiple tools. Independent monitoring systems are also getting powerful and are being evolved to suit customised needs and demand.

"Remote monitoring of power is converged with IT systems. Due to this, any power system can be monitored and remotely controlled by a computer at another location" - Pankaj Dubey GM, Sales & Marketing Intex

“Remote monitoring of power is converged with IT systems. Due to this, any power system can be monitored and remotely controlled by a computer at another location,” states Pankaj Dubey, GM, Sales and Marketing, Intex. “It can be done through monitoring software which can be installed on the computer; data communication takes place between the power system and computer through communication ports available on the computer.”

Tagare points out that remote monitoring is becoming more secure. “Remote monitoring is also becoming flexible…it can now integrate with other management systems so customers need not have to monitor multiple tools.”

“Intelligence in power conditioning tools is marked to be of high priority during any power or precision conditioning deployment as the concentrated heat load has also increased drastically in the data centres. The major intelligence added in next-generation power would be for monitoring and for inter-communication of power equipment,” adds Somnath Singha, Corporate Champion, Power Products, Emerson Network Power.

Along with this, digital signal processing (DSP) is playing a major role in the integration of devices for better communication, and it adds intelligence to power equipment. DSP ideally controls all the functions of UPS accurately, and also assures specified output accurately. Tagare agrees. “DSP is becoming an integral part of the UPS system of all ratings, and is playing a major role in integration with management devices for better communication.”

Paralleling technology that was a distant dream among office managers has become a reality. “As many as nine units can be paralleled to achieve redundancy. Paralleling on a bus is becoming commonplace as it eliminates one of the weak links (that is, cable connection between two units),” notes Tagare.

Other trends worth mentioning in power conditioning are customised modular solutions for cooling and infrastructure management followed by power protection for data centres and various other information technology needs.

The number of data centres in India is mushrooming, which is forcing companies to diversify their portfolio and move beyond a stand-alone power back-up solution.